


Payment Plan: Seventh Installment

by Indehed



Series: Bride Price [7]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Steve McGarrett
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-03
Updated: 2013-08-03
Packaged: 2017-12-22 06:10:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/909839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indehed/pseuds/Indehed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He wanted results and he was beginning to sense that Steve was listening to him more now and he didn't want to waste this moment, even if he was tired and not feeling like he was firing on all cylinders.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Paulette for sticking by me with the beta. The cheerleading has really helped.  
> The whole story is complete, there are ten parts altogether. I hope you stay with me until the resolution. 99% of this whole story takes place over one 24 hour period in a world with completely different social norms. Please keep that in mind when reading.

He'd kissed Grace goodbye and listened to her try to act much older than her age and tell him not to do anything she wouldn't do while the party continued in her absence and before he knew it, he was closing the door and listening for the sound of a car engine leaving the driveway.

"They gone?" Steve asked, rubbing his hands together as he came out of the bathroom to find Danny leaning against the door.

"Yeah," Danny straightened up. 

"I can't find my mom but the guys are changing everything out back. I've heard whispers of dancing." Steve sidled up to Danny and wrapped around him, swaying them both.

"I don't dance."

"According to you, you do, you just choose not to sometimes."

"This might be one of those times."

Steve's arms dropped. "Danny," he said exasperatedly. "Come on, man, we got married. They're celebrating with us. Can't you cheer up a little? I know you're parents aren't here and I know Rachel wanted to get Grace home but you've still got me, right?"

"Are you really going to stand there and act like that's the reason I've not been all jovial today?"

"Jovial?"

"Shut up! Just… shut up, Steven," Danny paced over to the couch and threw himself down on it, grabbing a cushion to his chest like a security blanket. 

"Danny, you're doing it again, you're flipping out like a… like a…"

"Hothead? Well, you know what, Steve, sometimes there's good reason to be a hothead. Sometimes you just have to be louder to make yourself heard!"

Steve towered over him. "I'm listening, Danny! I'm right here!"

"Are you? Because I've been trying to get through to you all day and you just shoot me down, every single time. Even when I thought I was making myself pretty damn clear by running out!"

Steve paced away and turned back, a hand to his head. "This is about our deal again? Danny, it's done. Why are you worrying about it? Nothing's going to change now, it's too late and frankly, I don't want to, I'm fine with it as is."

"It's lopsided, Steve. That doesn't worry you?"

"I know it's lopsided! That's how you wanted it, I told you I'd give you more but you said no!"

"What?" Danny asked, incredulous, flinging the cushion aside and pulling himself forward to perch on the end of the couch cushion. "What the hell are you on about? You're the one in control of the contract, not me, you hold the power. It's lopsided in _**your**_ direction!"

"Danny, what you put in is worth so much more than what I did," Steve sunk down to sit opposite Danny on the coffee table. 

"I put myself in," Danny moaned. 

"That's my point," Steve reached forward for Danny's face. "You're more important to me than anything else and you signed to let me keep you. Do you know how that makes me feel? That you did that? That you put that much trust in me? It's amazing and I promise you, _**I promise you**_ , I'm not going to take that for granted."

"Steve," Danny's eyes dropped, catching sight of Steve's hands out of the corner of his eyes and he clutched onto them with his own. "It's not about that. Well, a little, I mean we've got the rest of our lives and you can't promise you won't fuck up but my point is this… it's making me uncomfortable."

Steve pulled back a little. "Because you don't trust me?"

"I trust you, Steve, I always have. It's just… I've always believed in making marriage contracts even. Ours isn't."

"I told you.."

"I know," Danny interrupted, not wanting to hear Steve's platitudes again, he wanted results and he was beginning to sense that Steve maybe was listening to him more now and he didn't want to waste this moment, even if he was tired and not feeling like he was firing on all cylinders. "It's… think of it this way," he shuffled forward again in his seat. "I went through the ceremony in the traditional way even though it's not how we do things in Jersey. Frankly, we don't have a ceremony tradition that I care about but because you and all these other people do, I figured it was a concession I could make."

"You complained the whole time."

"Not the point. My point is, think of the tradition thing instead."

"But you don't _have_ a tradition."

"Exactly!" Danny waved a hand in the air. "My tradition is not having a tradition! My tradition is my family history of loose and even contracts. Do you see what I'm asking for here? I just want you to make some concessions for _**me**_ now."

Steve rubbed his hands on his legs then stood enough to move over to the couch beside Danny and sat close enough for their legs to brush together, the warmth of his body sliding against Danny's. He threw an arm around Danny's shoulder and pulled him in. "We can take a look at things tomorrow."

"Thank you," Danny laid his head on Steve's shoulder and relaxed. He was getting somewhere. He didn't have anything in place but there was promise, there was possibility and that was the important thing to him right now. Maybe Steve wouldn't be quite so pig-headed come morning.

"Just to be clear though, no divorce."

"No divorce," Danny repeated and Steve pulled him even closer, if that were possible, as he dragged Danny back with him as he collapsed against into the couch. "Like you said," Danny continued. "Not exactly very easy for us to do."

"You bet your ass," Steve's voice was almost a growl as his hand moved from Danny's shoulder to his head, pulling him in closer to drop a kiss into his hair. He then moved down to his temple and then his ear. In the next moment he was on his knees and pulling on Danny's hips to turn him and he closed in on Danny, forcing him back to lie on the couch, his head propped on the arm.

Steve hovered over him, one hand propping him up, muscles defined with the strain of his own weight, while the other skirted over Danny's body appreciatively. "Us getting married was the right thing, Danno."

Danny looked up into Steve's sincere eyes. They were piercing, they were doing everything they could to let Danny see his feelings. He could do little else other than nod in response, not trusting himself to say anything useful. 

"After everything with Grace's custody again, almost moving off island… Danny, I can't lose you."

"You're not losing me. I'm right here."

"Last night we admitted everything, it all came out, we were open and honest and I know we haven't done much more than fumble yet but it wasn't just spur of the moment. We've been leading up to this since we met and I've been ready for this."

"Steve, there are people outside."

"I know," Steve nodded, his eyes more intent on Danny's lips and neck than anything else. "I know, I just…" he nuzzled his nose to Danny's, his tongue darted out to lick along Danny's bottom lip and after those testing touches he claimed Danny's mouth in a searing kiss. He pulled Danny's legs into place on the couch without breaking their connection, and moved to settle himself more comfortably on the smaller man. His free hand hooked under Danny's knee and pulled his leg around Steve's hip so he could settle between Danny's thighs and nudge closer.

His lips drifted after so many passion fueled and messy kisses and his teeth grazed against Danny's jaw and into his neck where they latched on, sucking and biting low on his collarbone. Danny hissed at the dart of pain and clutched his hand into Steve's hair, throwing his head back further, the arm of the couch digging into his scalp. 

"Ohmygod, seriously?!" The high pitched voice came from the door to the kitchen, surprise evident as Danny and Steve's heads both whipped round to see Kono's hand over her mouth. "Save it for later, guys, everyone's waiting outside for you."

She made her way to the bathroom, leaving them in silence pierced only by heavy breathing. Steve rolled his hips into Danny's but then dropped his head to lean on Danny's shoulder in frustration. 

"Now I really want to send them all home," he said, muffled by the material of Danny's shirt.

"No," Danny tried to straighten himself, despite being hindered by Steve's weight. "No, we shouldn't… couch, no. Just… people, let's go." He shoved at Steve to get him up again. 

Truth be told, he was glad of the interruption. He hadn't meant to get carried away and he couldn't let Steve seduce him with a smile. Sure, he was a guy, and an offer of sex with someone hot wasn't going to be turned down in a hurry, but despite the progress they'd made in the last half an hour, it wasn't a done deal yet. He was softening, they both were, but he needed to stay focused and realistic. He shouldn't let himself be distracted by a pretty face, nor the fulfillment of fantasies he'd had for what must be going on over a year now.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a pretty small group that had stayed behind. Five-0, Kamekona, Max and Catherine were the only ones left. Steve and Danny were next to each other, of course. And as soon as Danny had laid his hand down over the arm of his chair, Steve's had been on top of it and hadn't relinquished his hold since. 

Kono had decided to make fun of them for catching them on the couch, Catherine declared she'd seen the whole marriage coming all along, and Kamekona alluded to their sex life at every opportunity. Only Chin held back on them. Steve likely put it down to his loss of Malia catching up to him after a day of celebrating someone else's happiness but Danny knew better. Sure he joined in, he laughed where it felt appropriate and he answered back, threw in a few stories of his own but he never really brought up the future. His conversation with Danny earlier had played enough on his mind to keep his comments at bay but he gave Danny an easy smile as his eyes dropped to where Steve was holding his hand. 

One by one they took off: tired and not wanting to drink anymore because they had to drive. Catherine had been the first to go, with a kiss on Steve's cheek and a pat to Danny's shoulder. Max headed off shortly after, citing an early morning for him. Chin and Kono left together, persuading Kamekona to go as well since the party was now well and truly over.

They all made their own way out, leaving Steve and Danny sitting on the deck watching the sun lower in the sky. It was still daytime, and there was light for a while yet. Steve's fingers traced small patterns on the back of Danny's hand, then he sat up a little and turned Danny's wrist over. 

"How're you're scratches?"

"They're not scratches they're full blown injuries. You can tell those cuffs are antiques, you know."

"I kinda liked seeing them on you. Not in a secondary sense just… it was sexy seeing you tied up for me." He smirked up at Danny as he shifted his body towards him.

"No comment," Danny said as he raised what was near the end of his third beer to his lips. 

"We could do it again. Not tonight but sometime. Hand cuffs. We've got plenty."

"Still no comment," Danny laughed into his bottle this time.

"Maybe after a few beers. You know you're more amenable when you've been drinking. Also a little bit when you're tied up. I kinda want to see both."

"Amenable?" Danny scowled as he sat up in his chair. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Nothing, it means nothing."

"You're saying that you need to get me drunk to agree with you, that it makes me pliant? Wait, last night…"

"No," Steve shot forward in his seat, a hand up to ward off Danny's thoughts. He clearly could tell where Danny was going with this. "No, not like that. Don't twist my words."

"I'm not twisting anything, you said it."

"I'm just having fun with you, we're trying to relax. It might have come out wrong. A little. I wasn't thinking."

"Seriously, Steve. Last night. Did you plan that? Getting me drunk and hoping that in my more relaxed state I'd agree with you more willingly?"

There was a pause, but Danny couldn't tell if it was indignant or fueled by guilt before he spluttered out, "No!"

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Maybe because you've been in a mood all day. Look, Danny, I already promised you we'd look over the contract tomorrow. You'll be completely sober then. You want to get off my back now?"

"Looking over doesn't mean we'll come to some great compromise. Not straight away. This could involve lawyers, Steve. You do realize that, right?"

Steve slumped in his chair. "Yeah, I get it."

He wanted to reassure Steve that if they could do it without help then that would be great. He wanted to tell him that he thought that once they had it hammered out properly their marriage could be a damn good one. He wanted to tell Steve he did have strong feelings for him, that he loved him. But he didn't say anything. He just looked at Steve's dejected face and thought that saying anything could damage the fragile peace he was feeling in himself, and the hope that everything could be fine, that it would be okay. If he said anything reassuring, Steve might take that the wrong way, his way. Might see it as Danny backing down.

"Look, I could use something a little stronger than light beer."

"There's old vodka somewhere, and for some reason I think there's some port stashed in the back of the cupboard. There may also be some whiskey, proper stuff."

Danny made his way into the kitchen and rummaged, eventually finding the remains of a good scotch, a half bottle of vodka and… well, he left the port, it looked funky.

He didn't even bother with glasses, just grabbed the bottles and made his way back outside, threw himself in his seat and opened the vodka, taking a slug from the bottle before handing it over to Steve.

They drank in silence for a little while until Steve dared to break it. "So today was… something."

"That I cannot dispute." He let Steve keep hold of the vodka and turned his attention to the last fingers of whiskey in the bottle.

"Danny," Steve reached a hand out that knocked against Danny's elbow. "Danno…"

"What?" Danny asked, when Steve just seemed to trail off. 

His question was met with an honest to god giggle from the Navy SEAL. "I like saying your name."

Danny smiled into his bottle and rubbed an eyebrow in something close to coyness.

"But seriously," Steve said, trying to lean closer. "What I'm really looking forward to, is hearing you yell my name when we're in bed together."

"Is that so?"

Steve pulled his bottom lip into his mouth and looked Danny over, not hiding his approval at what he saw. "God, it's going to be good."

"You think you can make me scream?"

"I think I'm going to enjoy the challenge. Oh hey," Steve touched the bottom of the bottle to Danny's bicep. "About that whole skinny dipping thing you brought up earlier."

"Not going to happen," Danny's face tightened in a half-smile. 

"And the parachuting? You would be strapped onto me, it'll be fun."

"Are you kidding? That's my idea of hell. Pure hell. You whooping in my ear while I cling on for dear life and see it all flash before my eyes. Risk leaving Grace fatherless, with just Step-Stan? No thank you. Solid ground below my feet, that's what I like."

"You're smiling though. It can't be all bad if you're smiling. I think we should add stuff like that into the contract."

"You think because I'm smiling it means I really want it? You think it means I'm okay with everything? Babe, it could easily just be a mask, hiding the fact that what I really want is to punch you in the nuts. How about that?"

Steve scrutinized Danny and it made him uncomfortable enough that he downed the last of the bottle in his hands then dropped it to the deck at his feet, doing his best to ignore Steve's gaze.

"Come 'ere," Steve gestured, palm open.

"Why am I the one to move? I'm comfortable."

"Come here," Steve insisted, leaning forward enough to reach for Danny's hand, taking a tight hold and trying to pull him over. 

"You're such a control freak, animal," Danny grouched as he got to his feet, his head swimming with the motion. While he'd been sitting he hadn't noticed the alcohol flowing through his system but now, yeah, it was hitting him. That scotch packed a punch. 

He wobbled and Steve took the advantage of it to pull Danny down on top of him, vodka sloshing between them. 

"Danny," Steve started earnestly as Danny tried to arrange himself as he knelt over Steve, knees barely fitting onto the chair, one leg precariously balanced. "I accused you once of never being happy."

"Pretty sure I said I'm happy when I'm not with you."

Steve shook his head, "Point is. I just want to _make_ you happy. And I know I can do it, if you give me a chance."

"If I recall, you never believed me when I said that anyway. I remember, because that's when _you_ decided that I must love you."

Steve shrugged and his knee bounced, bringing his thigh up to rub against Danny's groin, making his breath hitch. "I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna make us happy. Even if I have to tear apart the island to do it." He raised his head for a kiss that Danny was about to respond to when he pulled back suddenly. 

"Did you hear that?" He asked. 

Steve scoffed and tried to bring Danny's attention back to him with a hand behind his neck but then they both heard a door closing inside and became conscious of the fact they were no longer alone in the house. 

"Who the hell…?" 

Danny got to his feet, still wobbly, but did his best to shake it off and carefully peer into the house. Steve raised himself up and clutched at Danny's sides as they moved through the open lanai door into the kitchen. 

"Mom?" Steve asked as Doris appeared from the living room. 

"Oh," she exclaimed, a hand to her chest. "I thought you boys would be upstairs by now. I just, I left my purse in here. Is it just the two of you?"

"Yeah, mom, the rest left not that long ago. We were sitting outside."

"I'm gonna…" Danny gestured that he was going to leave them both alone. He really needed to piss out what felt like a gallon of beer and whiskey anyway and now was as good a time as any.

"Congratulations," Doris said as he walked by her. 

"Thanks," he waved off and walked out of the room with deliberate steps, loudly climbing the stairs and out of their way. After everything today, he didn't have the energy to face Doris, even drunk, as he probably was now. Considerably so.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, here's the deal. I love getting comments, of course I do, kudos as well. I love having some banter and I respond to my comments because it's bloody polite (I'm British, it's how we are). It's amazed me how involved people have become in this one; through the meta it seems to have spawned, through the discussions on how it impacts the characters lives to be held under this kind of social structure. All that is great and the overwhelming response has been supportive.  
> Here's the 'but'... frankly, some of the comments have come off, intentionally or not, as pretty nasty. Those aren't helpful, and have affected the game face I needed to finish the story.  
> How I feel about this is simple. I'm not making any money from it, I'm doing it as a hobby, I'm doing it for myself because it's fun for me and because once I get ideas in my head I need them out or I obsess over them. This was one such idea. I share it with people because hey, maybe you'll like it. Also, I've been reading fic for years and maybe by publishing mine out there I'm paying it forward in some way, sparking someone else's imagination.
> 
> Long story short, I'm avoiding the comments right now, so that's why I'm not as responsive as I have been. I've got a real life, there's important things happening in it that need my concentration too, I don't need a flood of negativity affecting me, I'm not a Vulcan (sure, I'm British, but I do have some emotion).  
> This is not me fishing for support, like I said, I'm not reading the comments until I finish posting, so I won't pay attention to them for a little bit anyway. I just want to explain myself. 
> 
> I hope those who have read continue to enjoy no matter how the ending comes about. I can promise you this, it's as happy as I could make it, and that's pretty darned happy. At least for the world they live in.


End file.
